Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies receives patent for Parkinson’s disease monitoring technology

Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies announced today they have received allowance of claims from the U.S. Patent Office for an application covering their system and method of stimulating the brain during sleep to treat movement disorder symptoms. The claims cover a system and method including a wearable apparatus to position an array of electrodes on the surface of the scalp, provide low dose stimulation to the brain using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and delivering this stimulation during different stages of sleep. While deep brain stimulation has shown efficacy for treating movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease, non-invasive technologies such as tDCS may provide additional options for patients. Delivering stimulation therapy during sleep may target brain states likely to improve motor symptoms, as well as minimize patient burden since the therapy would occur while they are sleeping.

"While most of our previous work has focused on diagnostics for Parkinson's disease, we also recognize new opportunities for therapy could have a significant impact on patient quality of life." says Dustin Heldman, PhD, Principal Investigator and Biomedical Research Manager. To address the growing movement disorders market, Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies has been committed to the commercialization of its Kinesia [ http://glneurotech.com/kinesia/proview/ ] medical technology platforms.

"There is evidence that treating the brain with transcranial direct current stimulation using a non-invasive system can improve Parkinson's symptoms. While current approaches aim to target the location of stimulation to the brain, this approach is targeting the timing of stimulation, by delivering it during sleep."  Dr. Heldman also thanked the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute on Aging for their continued support of these technologies. An ongoing Phase I clinical study (1R43NS077652-01) is evaluating efficacy of the technology in patients.

Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies is committed to building its intellectual property portfolio with new applications stemming from many on-going clinical studies. "These allowed patent claims continue to build on our success in applying for and securing intellectual property for our innovative product and services pipeline targeted toward movement disorders.

Strategically, it also represents a bifurcated shift in our portfolio to cover not only diagnostics but certain therapies that leverage key components of our diagnostic technology", says Brian Kolkowski, PhD, Executive Vice-President and General Counsel. "As our technology continues to grow commercially in both domestic and international markets, our growing patent portfolio will help to provide strategic advantage for our company by protecting technology in our targeted markets".

Source: http://www.glneurotech.com/